The Gold Coast Bulletin

REMEMBER WHEN

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Friday, January 5, 1968

A MYSTERY wreck discovered near the entrance to the Southport bar could become a menace to shipping.

The wreck was discovered during an underwater spearfishi­ng hunt by Australian skin diving legend Ben Cropp.

Cropp said the wreck was that of a trawler in reasonably good condition.

Until now the wreck had been covered by sand.

But at the time of its discovery, about 40 feet of decking had been uncovered and, in parts, it was exposed to a depth of about four feet.

“The wreck is lying in about 15 foot of water on the Broadwater side of the bar, near the northern edge of the main shipping channel,” Cropp said.

“It’s been exposed because the bar entrance is returning to normal and beginning to move northward again.”

Cropp said floodwater­s from the previous June had gouged out a deep gutter on the southern side of the bar.

Sand was building up and the deeper channel was moving further north.

“In time, as the northward movement continues, the wreck will be lying right in the middle of the only navigable channel and could prove a danger to shipping,” Cropp said.

The diver said further evidence of the June cyclone could be seen around the only wreck of the Scottish Prince.

That wreck sat in about 30 feet of water around 300 yards offshore from the Marineland on the Southport Spit.

“It used to be reasonably exposed,” said Cropp.

“But now the only thing visible is part of a mast.”

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